Niko's Reef Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 My Kuda is having contractions. Not sure how long this process takes. Have to leave for work in a hour, and won't be back till 3 n the morning. Not sure if I should even leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Did you go to work? I always put my male in another container/qt for the birth if I was saving the fry. I hope you didn't miss the whole thing, it's cool to see! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 I ended up going to work Kim. Didn't know how long it would take for it to happen. Do u know? Doesn’t it usually happen at night or morning? Still haven’t found an answer to that. My wife is staying around in case it happens. However, it grosses her out. Not sure she can handle the birth process. I thought the videos were cool, and would love to be there when it happens. Haven't tested the chemicals in the new tank yet, so I'm nervous about placing the male in there. However, that would be way easier. Thanks for mentioning that. The tank was previously my sump with the LR in it, so it all should be cycled. Wish it would be a little longer before it happens though. Have a few pods in there, but not enough. Tried calling around, but I couldn't find any. I got some brine eggs today. Guess I'll try that route. Would love to work on the new tank tonight. I don't get home till 3, and have to be somewhere tomorrow by 8. Need to make it happen some way though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Baby seahorses??? Did it happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 Nah nothing yet Teresa. He kept crunching his stomach and it was opening, but still in the contraction stage. Said it could take awhile from what I read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 oh wow. I had no idea. Well make sure to post with pics when it happens!! So exciting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 Will do. Hopefully I'll catch it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 (edited) Ok, I'm not sure what's happening? The male stomach has had a pooch on it for about a month. I looked up diseases and gas/bubbles to make sure. He didn't look or act like that. Everything but his stomach looked usual. The night b4 what I thought was contractions started, he didn't eat as much. That was a little weird, because he is a huge eater. The next day, his breathing was faster and he was crunching his stomach. I've seen a few videos of pregnant Kuda's and it looked like it was fixing to happen. I saw his stomach open several times during this process. The only thing that came out was some type of discharge. This discharge happened a few times within about 3-4 hours. Not a lot of discharge and not constant, but crunching and breathing faster. Today, his stomach doesn't look as bloated, no crunching, and his breathing is a back to normal. Also, he was very hungry today. No changes have been made to tank. All corals, fish, and other seahorse look great. He looks great as well too. The only time his breathing changed was when the crunching was going on. Never looked like he was having too hard of a time breathing, just a little faster then usual. Edited July 25, 2012 by Niko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Hmmm, that's interesting. Any chance he had some fry while you were gone? What kind of corals do you have? Corals big enough to eat fry? I have a couple of ideas. I don't know how young he is, but the first few batches of fry can be really small. Maybe he had them and they got sucked into the filter and eaten by coral, other fish, etc. I've had that happen to me. I only knew it happened because the male was regular size and I finally spotted one fry a day later. Actually maybe that's my only idea. My other thought was his actions sound like he's trying to flirt with the female. Show her how awesome he is at birthing, how big his pouch can get, etc. The behaviors you describe are some that also happen during mating rituals. I don't know much though, especially about kudas. Have you posted this on seahorse.org? Certainly they would know what's going on. I'm so glad to hear he seems just fine and is eating! Sounds like you're doing an excellent job with them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 Wow Kim that's really helpful. They have grown so much into each other over the last few months. That day, they stayed attach the whole time . They didn't attach the first few weeks, and then slowly it started. Mostly around meal time. Have had them for about 3 months if I had to take a guess. Makes sense that it could be a flirting and showing off thing. That would be awesome news. I was just nervous about the discharge. To me and my wife, it seemed like it happened, but never saw fry. We watched for about 2 hours. Was trying to get ready for work, but my wife kept telling me I'm going to miss it. Lol. I was wondering if it was a possible miscarriage? The discharge made me to believe this more. Didn't even know if this is possilbe? I've started to research it on Seahorse.org, but haven't posted the question. Think it's about time to though. Thank you for your insight Kim. You have a lot of knowledge on this subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 (edited) Sorry Kim, forgot to answer question about corals and fish. I have 3 peppermint shrimp, a fish cleaning goby, royal gramma, and a sand shifting goby. None of them are aggressive, with the exception of the shrimp trying to get to the food. The horses rule the aquarium easily. The only corals that I have in there is a monti cap and a red mushroom LR. I guess that's a possibility of something eating them. Edited July 25, 2012 by Niko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 I had a dwarf seahorse that I thought was pregnant. I was filming it with my phone cause I was so excited, but then all that came out was discharge. He went back to his normal size and eating habits. I figured maybe something got caught in the pouch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 Sounds similar Teresa. How long did he look pregnant? I finally have some free time tonight. I'm going to try to investigate it more. Most likely though, by the time that I get home he will be asleep and I won't be able to see anything. In that case, hopefully I can examine it more tomorrow b4 work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 I'm curious how your seahorses are doing. Is that male still looking good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko's Reef Posted August 19, 2012 Author Share Posted August 19, 2012 Kim, he looks great. Not sure to this day what happened. His stomach is normal again. It went back to normal a few days after the incident. I got new LED's for them about 2 weeks ago. It's the same 1's that AquaDome has. We liked their setup, so I copied it. I took the hood off as well. Not sure why, but they are so much more active. Whenever I stop working 12 hours, 7 days a week, I'll post some pics. Working on coral for it at the moment to bring out some colors. Nothing crazy that might sting them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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